GORKHA: Kusunda family, who celebrated Dashain borrowing money from lenders, would not want more debts for Tihar. They have not got the special allowance provided by the government since July. The government has been providing Rs 1,000 allowance to the endangered community for the last one year.

Sarmila Kusunda lamented that they could not celebrate Dashain happily as they did not get the allowance before the festival. She added,’’

We borrowed money

from neighbors to celebrate Dashain.’’ We will have to borrow more for Tihar if the government does not provide the allowance,” she said.

“And added to that, the lenders are pressing us

to pay the debts soon.” She further accused

the municipality of providing them Rs 500 per month instead of the declared Rs 1,000.

Meanwhile, chief of social development branch at the municipality, Bijayabhakta Upadhyaya admitted that they had distributed less as they were unclear about the policies regarding allowance for endangered communities. He said that the directives provided by the government were unclear. However, he admitted that unavailability of budget from the centre was the reason behind present laxity on their part.

A family of six members is the only family of Kusunda, an endangered community in Gorkha. The family has been sheltering in a rented room at Terakilo area of Gorkha Municipality.